U.S. and Russia Reach Deal to Destroy Syria's Chemical Arms  —  GENEVA — The United States and Russia reached a sweeping agreement on Saturday that called for Syria's arsenal of chemical weapons to be removed or destroyed by the middle of 2014 and indefinitely stalled the prospect of American airstrikes.

The Arguments of the Great Recession Are Over.  Hooray.  —  Five years after the financial crisis, the general expert consensus is that the Obama administration did a good but not great response job.  The financial rescue measures saved the banking system from wreaking deep, widespread destruction …

Mann and Ornstein: “Brighter future for politics and policy requires a different Republican Party”  —  The Republicans have become a party beholden to zealots — with little respect for science, facts or compromise  —  From the perspective of November 7, the day after the election, change looked promising.

By the Book  —  What's the best book you've read so far this year?  —  I've been reading autobiographies to get me in the mood for writing my own and show me how it's done: Tolstoy (at one time my own memoir was to have been called, at my wife's suggestion, “Childhood, Boyhood, Truth"); …

Bill Maher: U.S. looking like Zimmerman  —  Liberal comedian Bill Maher said Friday the U.S. is looking “more like George Zimmerman” with regards to military force and criticized arguments over intervention in Syria.  —  “Forget the Syria debate, we need a debate on why we're always debating whether to bomb someone.

Obama to mark fifth anniversary of financial crisis, highlight response  —  President Obama will speak Monday from the White House Rose Garden to mark the five-year anniversary of the financial crisis and highlight his administration's response to it.  —  Although the nation's housing market …

Wall St. Exploits Ethanol Credits, and Prices Spike  —  It was supposed to help clean the air, reduce dependence on foreign oil and bolster agriculture.  But a little known market in ethanol credits has also become a hot new game on Wall Street.  —  The federal government created the market …

Lifelines for Poor Children  —  What's missing in the current debate over economic inequality is enough serious discussion about investing in effective early childhood development from birth to age 5.  This is not a big government boondoggle policy that would require a huge redistribution of wealth.

Don't blame climate change for extreme weather  —  Bjørn Lomborg, an adjunct professor at the Copenhagen Business School, directs the Copenhagen Consensus Center.  He is the author of “The Skeptical Environmentalist,” “Cool It” and, most recently, “How Much Have Global Problems Cost the World?

How to Make School Better for Boys  —  Start by acknowledging that boys are languishing while girls are succeeding.  —  I recently appeared on MSNBC's The Cycle to discuss the new edition of my book The War Against Boys.  The four hosts were having none of it.  A war on boys?